Automated teller machines ("ATMs"), whereby bank customers can make cash withdrawals, deposits, and transfers, are well known. ATMs provide a cost-effective and convenient method by which banks can process their customers' transactions. According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, each transaction costs the bank about 21 cents when transacted through an ATM, compared to 52 cents when a customer uses a teller. In addition, banks can build, or share, thousands of ATMs, where they cannot afford to build a comparable number of branch banks. However, banks have encountered a widespread reluctance on the part of customers to use ATMs. According to The Wall Street Journal, only one out of three bank customers uses ATMs. Banks would thus like to encourage the remaining two-thirds of their customers to use the ATMs.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an incentive for bank customers to utilize automated teller machines.
Throughout the consumer products industry, especially the fast food industry, advertisers and marketing experts have relied heavily on the use of contest games to entice the public to eat in their establishments or to buy their products. In an effort to encourage bank customers to use the ATMs, some banks have placed game indicia, for example a gold star, on random ATM receipts. A bank customer who receives an ATM rceipt bearing a gold star can then redeem his receipt for a prize. However, it would be relatively easy for one having access to the stack of blank ATM receipts to locate the receipts bearing a gold star and to misappropriate the winning receipts, either by theft or by alerting an accomplice as to when the winning receipt will be distributed.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a promotional game which can be incorporated onto an ATM receipt wherein the game indicia are concealed from view until the bank customer reveals the game indicia when the receipt is distributed.
Promotional games having game indicia concealed from view by readily removable opaque masking material are known in the art. One such popular game utilizes a game card employing a plurality of game indicia printed thereon. The indicia are individually hidden under removable masking layers. The game permits the removal of a given number of masks, such as three. When the masks are removed, typically by rubbing with the edge of a coin, the underlying game indicia are revealed. If the exposed indicia correspond to a desired combination of indicia, the card is a winner and can be redeemed for the appropriate prize. This type of game involves an element of chance in order to produce a winning game card.
Another such game typically employs a game card having a question printed on it, with multiple choice answers provided. lndividual indicia concealed by protective masking placed next to each answer indicate whether that answer is correct or incorrect. The contestant selects one answer to the question and removes the masking next to that answer to expose the underlying indicia telling him whether his answer is correct or incorrect. The contestant can select only one answer, and the removal of more than one mask disqualifies the card. This type of game involves an element of skill in order to produce a winning game card.
One such example of game cards having indicia initially concealed by removable masking is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,174, wherein a card is manufactured from a thick sheet of paper having game indicia printed thereon. A thin coating of hard wax or plastic is applied to the face of the card. An opaque ink or wax-like masking is selectively applied to portions of the game card to conceal the game indicia. The coating on the card prevents the masking material from penetrating into the paper sheet, whereby the masking is readily removable from the card by scraping to expose the underlying game indicia.
Such construction is inconsistent with the requirements for paper adaptable for use as receipts for ATMs. In order for the receipts to be fed through the ATM properly by the pressure rollers used for that purpose, the paper must be uncoated. Otherwise, the paper will slip when engaged by the rollers. However, if an opaque ink or wax-like masking material is applied directly to uncoated paper, the masking will penetrate into the paper and cannot be readily scraped off by the game player to reveal the underlying indicia. In addition, if the masked areas of the game card are contacted by the pressure rollers, the masking may be damaged, revealing the underlying indicia to the recipient or removing the masking irom more areas than a player is permitted to remove, thus invalidating the card. Additionally, masking material thus removed by contact with the pressure rollers could foul the printing and drive mechanisms of the ATM.
Another consideration in incorporating such a promotional game onto an ATM receipt is that the game indicia and masking must be imprinted on portions of the receipt which are not normally used by the ATM to print information concerning the transaction. Since ATMs typically print such information over most of the front side of the receipt, this requirement would dictate that the promotional game be printed on the reverse side. However, ATM manufacturers specify that the paper for receipts should be twenty pound stock, a relatively light weight. Using such a lightweight, thin paper, game indicia imprinted on the back of receipt stock would penetrate through the paper and show through on the front side, rendering a receipt printed on the front illegible.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an ATM receipt having a promotional game thereon which conceals the game indicia until the game is distributed to a customer, wherein the promotional game does not interfere with the proper mechanical functioning of the ATM, wherein the game does not interfere with the customer transaction information printed by the ATM, and wherein the promotional game is not damaged by the ATM.